The Three Clones and the World of Ruin
by Mysterious Prophetess
Summary: Part 3 of Clone-Verse. Noctis is gone. The World has plunged into utter darkness. Chaos reigns and deamons run rampant. In the midst of this, three clones struggle to find their place and their identities alongside the three men scrambling to find their own place in a world gone dark.
1. Chapter 1

Sidus stared at the waters as their small boat, crammed to the gills, cut through the waters away from Gauldin Quay. The ruined Gauldin Quay.

* * *

They'd pulled the boat up to the end of the dock only to have people fleeing towards their vessel running from Daemons. Sidus gripped the sword Noctis had given him and thrown it warping into the fray slashing at a skeleton daemon barely saving a blonde woman in a red and black outfit and a man in a nice shirt and pants.

"Get out of here!" Sidus ordered as he tried to use his powers like he'd seen Noctis do. It was….rough going. He could only summon about six floating weapons and they didn't last long. Some copy **he** was. He couldn't even copy that right!

"Sidus!" Diana had arrived and she held her hand out and golden light blasted forth vaporizing those daemons nearby and repelling those farther away. The bad part was she slumped to her knees with a nosebleed.

"Diana!"

"We've got her! Focus on getting back to the boat. All the survivors have been rounded up," Gladio yelled. Sidus turned and saw Gladio was just behind him. He nodded and backed up as Mercury and Prompto covered their exits with their guns.

* * *

"So kid, how's it that you're a dead ringer for Prince Noctis and have his powers?" it was that guy he saved.

"To that he has a firm "No Comment," Dino," Ignis had appeared in the nick of time.

"Wowza! What happened to your—I mean, sorry about your, uh, loss," Dino said.

"It will take some time, but I will adjust. Sidus, Diana has been asking for you," Ignis said. Sidus nodded and followed Ignis into a small section of the deck that had been crudely curtained off for Diana to rest and recover in.

"Really, or were you just getting me away from that guy?" he asked.

"Both," Ignis said. Sidus saw a smirk for the first time since….

"Sidus, you're alright," Diana was sitting up. She looked a little pale, but she was otherwise ok.

"Forget me, what about you?" Sidus asked. He crouched next to her.

"I overdid it, but in time I'll figure out how to use my powers…safely," Diana said.

"Yeah, me too," Sidus said.

"Dude! Next time, don't go into that without me!" Mercury said.

"Dude?" Diana had an eyebrow quirked.

"Prompto says it a lot and I like it!" Mercury replied.

"We've almost reached Cape Caem," Ignis said.

"Alright, Listen up! We're about to land. You're to file off the boat without panicking into the hanger bay and wait there until we tell you it's safe to go out. It might be a tight squeeze, but until the trucks arrive to get you all to Lestallum, your safe bet is to wait here," Gladio yelled.

* * *

"You're supposed to wait here!" it was an older lady. Sidus, Mercury, and Diana had been ascending the stairs to the elevator out. They exchanged looks and sat down.

"Ah, there you guys are!" Prompto popped down.

"That lady said we're supposed to stay here," Mercury said.

"Nah. You guys are sticking with us for a while, so you need to come with me. Oh. Hey! The trucks will be here in five minutes!" There was a general cheer from the survivors of Gauldin Quay. They arrived at the top to see Gladio sprinting off into the darkness, sword on his shoulder, shield out. There, in the distance were daemons attacking the trucks. Sidus summoned his sword and threw it warping with a stumble before he warped again and caught up to Gladio.

"Kid, get back!"

"No. I can do this," Sidus said. Gladio just growled and kept running. Sidus kept up as best he could, and when the largest Daemon was in view Sidus stopped took a breath and warped at it. He flipped off and landed roughly but it was enough to get the first truck away. Gunshots rang out, joining the others and another truck got past. The final truck was totaled, but the driver made it out fine..

"The night fell too damned fast!" a driver said once they were safely behind the lights around Cape Caem.

"Gladio, the headlights we salvaged from the Regalia—." Ignis began.

"On it."

* * *

"No ya'll are going to have to follow real close behind one another but these lights'll keep the daemons at bay," Cid explained. The two trucks were filled to bursting.

"Also, for safety, I'll be tagging along," Gladio said.

"Me as well." A wild Cor had appeared!

"What about me?" Prompto said.

"You and Iggy need to stay here and help protect the others," Gladio said. Prompto nodded after a moment.

"The younger ones are up a top the light house," Ignis said finding his way over with his cane. His balance was improving.

"Better make sure they don't fall!" Prompto said dashing off.

"Younger ones?" Cid asked. Prompto didn't stick around for the explanation. He had to find his fellow clones. Wow that was a weird fact he still hadn't really absorbed. He was a clone. Did that mean he was going to suffer clone degeneration or something like clones always did in Sci-Fi movies? Prompto used the lift to ascend to the top of the light house. Mercury was leaning over the edge dangerously while Sidus was sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest as he looked over the ocean. Diana was hovering near Mercury.

"Hey," Prompto said. Mercury waved back nearly losing his balance, forcing Diana to grab his belt loops.

"The people in the trucks looked at me like I was some sort of freak," Sidus said.

"Most people don't have magical powers like you, Diana, or N-Noct," Prompto said sitting next to Sidus.

"You, Iggy, and Gladio have powers," Sidus said.

"Because of our connection to Noct," Prompto said.

"I could lend people powers too?" Sidus said.

"Yeah, probably," Prompto said, "But not too many people. You'd need the Ring for more and it….it's with Noct."

"Oh," Sidus said.

"So, uh, what was it like with your handler?" Prompto asked.

"She was ok, I guess. Kind of cold. Never called me anything other than "boy" or "the subject." I hadn't know this wasn't normal until I got curious and used the internet to find other books than what I'd been assigned and realized in every text I read children had names and weren't treated like…animals," Sidus said, "It wasn't long after that she noticed I was too "sympathetic" with others and that I wasn't…properly loyal to the Empire's cause."

"I was raised in a similar fashion," Diana said, "Though, my handler was not quite as cold as he could have been, he treated me as more of an object than a girl."

"My training officer was executed," Mercury said, "He got too attached to me and for ruining a precious resource of the empire, he was executed and I was to be studied as a defect and destroyed."

"My folks were ok at first, but as time went on they…spent more time outside the apartment to the point I was pretty much on my own by the time I was Mercury's age," Prompto said. The three had moved closer to him. They were touch starved. Much like he'd been at one point in his life. He pulled them all into a group hug.

* * *

"Prompto's been out there for a while," Iris said. Ignis was sitting at the table slowly sipping one of his stashed cans of Ebony, Iris was trying not to stare at his scars.

"The light in the Lighthouse should keep him safe," Ignis said.

"Why is he up there?" Iris asked.

"He is comforting the three children we've brought back with us," Ignis said.

"There are kids up there?" Iris said loudly.

"Yes," Ignis replied.

"Iris?" Talcott walked sleepily down the stairs rubbing his eyes.

"Talcott," Iris said rushing over to him, "Did you have another nightmare?" Talcott shook his head.

"Just couldn't sleep after the news about his Majesty…" Ignis sighed. It hadn't been easy informing the others about Noctis. It was why they'd held off introducing Sidus, Diana, and Mercury to them just yet, along with Prompto's true origins.

"Prompto will probably be inside soon enough. No need to wait up," Ignis said. Iris escorted Talcott upstairs to the room she, Talcott, Dustin, and Monica shared. A mirror of the room he and the others used while at Cape Caem. Prompto quietly walked a short while later with the kids on his heels.

"We're beat, so we're hitting the hay early," Prompto said as he led them to the stairs, "Have you got this?"

"I will be fine. I remember the layout of the house," Ignis said.

"We'll be leaving your usual bed empty," Prompto said.

"Thanks," Ignis said.

* * *

Prompto hovered as the kids got ready for bed, but it turned out however they'd been raised, they could do this mundane task. He used some of the extra clothing they'd left behind to use for sleep clothes. One of Gladio's rarely worn T-shirts was the perfect size for a night gown for Diana. They showered ridiculously fast. A mere fifteen minutes later all three were showered and ready to sleep. Prompto showered last, emerging just in a tank top and boxers. The three kids had climbed into the same bed and were curled up together. It made Prompto's heart clench a little. He took his own bed, which was next to theirs, and finally let himself fall into a deep sleep.

* * *

Weak light illuminated the room. Iris yawned as she entered to wake Prompto and Ignis. Ignis was already up and slowly, and clumsily shaving his face. Very few nicks on his cheeks and chin showed that he was managing without help. Gladio's designated bed was empty. Prompto's blonde hair slightly glowed in the dark in his bed next to it, but the bed next to the window, Noctis's bed, had lumps under the covers.

"Ignis, who's that?" Iris asked. Ignis cursed. She'd startled him and he'd sliced his cheek.

"Those are three children Prompto rescued while he was on his own in Niflheim," Ignis said after he finished shaving and fumbled for something to clot the blood with. Iris pulled out a handkerchief, it was her fault after all. She looked at the heads on the bed and in the light she could make out two nearly glowing blond heads of hair and one dark head, on the end.

"Are they related?" Iris asked.

"Not to each other, but they are rather attached to one another and to Prompto," Ignis said once he finished with the cuts on his face. He used his cane and proceeded to the door. Iris could take a hint and followed him out.

"How old are they?" Iris asked.

"Twelve. Not much younger than you," Ignis said.

"Prompto saved them? From what?" Iris asked. There was a beat and Ignis sighed.

"The empire was up to some vile human experimentation," Ignis explained, "The least of which was cloning and then experimenting on those clones."

"Wait, so cloning is real?" Iris said a tad loudly.

"Yeah,"—yawn—"it's real alright." Prompto was awake but the kids weren't.

"That's terrible," Iris said.

"Which part?" Prompto asked looking into her eyes.

"Most of it, don't clones start off as babies?" Iris said.

"Yeah," Prompto said, "Some have their DNA messed with and their aging sped up."

"That's just awful, what were they cloning kids for?" Iris asked.

Prompto silently walked to the table and sat down. He looked like a heavy weight was on his back as he sighed. He pulled out recorders from his subspace as well as a few files.

"I….took this from the facility as I went," Prompto said gesturing to the pile of things he produced. He searched through the pile and offered Iris one sheaf of paper in particular.

"Bar-bar codes…year commissioned…..Oh Six, MT's were…." Iris looked up the stairs, "Were they supposed to be MT's?"

"One was," Prompto said before he held his arm up, "So was I."

"You're a clone too!" Iris said, "Does Gladdy know? Did Noctis know?"

"We all knew before Noctis's…disappearance," Ignis said. Iris had forgotten he was there.

"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't really react much better to finding out I was a clone," Prompto said looking up at her with watery violet eyes. Iris felt horrible.

"I'm sorry, it's just to know that all this time MT's were actual people…" Iris said.

"Were. The man we were all cloned from had twisted them into monsters," Prompto said looking down at his own code print, "Mercury was considered a defect. He didn't age any faster than normal. They were going to kill him after they figured out what went "wrong" with him."

"Prompto?" Mercury was at the top of the steps rubbing his eyes as he sleepily made his way down, drawn to Prompto as if by a magnet. He was in the chair next to him in an instant. Iris could easily see the eerie resemblance between the two. Mercury was Prompto, only smaller.

"Hey, sleep alright?" Prompto asked messing with Mercury's hair.

"I didn't dream at all, so I guess," Mercury said.

"Mercury this is Gladio's younger sister, Iris. Iris, this is my little brother, Mercury," Prompto gestured between the two. Sleepy violet eyes blinked at Iris and there was a nod of acknowledgment.

"We are going to need to procure more clothing that fit Mercury, Diana, and Sidus," Ignis remarked.

"Yeah, but we can just wash what they have, right?" Prompto said.

"With as weak as the sun has been, I wouldn't want to try it," Iris said.

"There are two boys and a girl. Perhaps she could borrow some of your spare things," Ignis said.

"Sure. I should have an extra outfit or two that might be small enough," Iris said standing, "Does she have a favorite color?"

"It's a light blue," Mercury said, "Like Sylla Blossoms."

"The boys will have to make due with what we can make fit them, as will Diana," Ignis said.

* * *

Diana was the next awake, after Prompto and Mercury had gone back up stairs and Prompto changed into proper clothing and managed to find a pair of draw string shorts for Mercury he could pull tight to keep them up, though they looked ridiculously baggy. Dang, still needed to dress Sidus. Prompto hunted through their left over clothing and came up empty handed until he found a really mangled pair of Noct's jeans (he'd gotten attacked by a sahgin while fishing for dinner once). Prompto ran out of the room.

"I need a pair of scissors!" he was down the stairs in a flash. Talcott was awake.

"Hey, Talcott!" Iris walked over and slapped a pair of scissors in his hands as well as a sewing kit.

"Thanks!" Prompto ran up the stairs and jerked his head at Mercury, which clued the smaller blond into following him.

"I forgot this place had sewing supplies," Prompto said.

"You can sew?" Diana had tried on the light pink sun dress Iris had left in the room for her. It fit better than Gladio's t-shirt did.

"A little. Iggy was always a bit better at it, but I guess I'm going to have to shape up now," Prompto said. He snipped off the excess length to make shorts, as most of the damage had been done to the lower legs. There was sill a slash across the back in one part, which Prompto set to fixing. Once that was done he nodded at his handiwork. It looked crude, but it was better than nothing. A spare belt was dug out and Prompto used the scissors to make many extra holes. A check in the one closet netted two smaller shirts, one of which he flung to Mercury. They were black and plain but they were clean. They were still a little big, but not as bad as trying to put shirts for grown men on twelve year olds. Sadly, there were no left over pairs of pants.

"Can you do my hair like yours?" Mercury asked.

"Sure!" Prompto said with a smile. He left the clothes at the foot of the bed for Sidus before he led Mercury into the bathroom.

"Hey, Diana right? Would you like me to do your hair?" Iris asked. The younger girl looked in the bathroom.

"It's ok, she's Gladio's sister!" Prompto yelled. Diana then nodded and walked over to her.

* * *

Iris was jealous of Diana's hair. It was so thick and soft. The gentle ashy-blonde color was also really nice. Iris began to braid it back out of her face, sort of like how she'd seen Lady Lunafreya wear it in that magazine that talked all about her and Noctis's up-coming wedding. Iris's fingers stilled.

"Is something wrong?" Diana's voice was accented like a Tenebraen native. Iris tied off the braided section before she pulled the rest of the hair into a simple ponytail. She walked around and the resemblance was there. This girl was **Lunafreya** 'sclone.

"You…You know what my original looked liked," Diana said softly looking down at her own hands.

"I saw her picture once," Iris said.

"Did Prompto tell you….about all of us?" Diana asked.

"Yeah. He and Ignis," Iris said.

"I understand this must be upsetting for you." Diana fidgeted with the borrowed skirt.

"Not because of you, but because of what they did to others like you," Iris explained, "Plus your original was really famous and really beloved. Her death was hard for the world to take."

"Oh….Will it be hard for me to…be something other than her copy?" Diana asked.

"Sorry," Iris said.

* * *

Sidus was in a strange dream world. He looked around and it was a strange place full of buildings. Was it a city? There was a dark shiny building before him. Sidus took a few steps forwards but a glowing sword slammed down before him. More joined it and he was surrounded.

" **You should not exist.** " The voice could only be described as…huge. Huge and inhuman. Sidus tried to put on a brave face but a giant figure covered in metal with what looked like a lizard tail was just down right terrifying to him. A sharp looking hand reached for him and he was frozen on the spot. He closed his eyes waiting to be squished. Instead he was picked up by two of the fingers almost gingerly. He was deposited into the other hand and brought up to the giant's eye level. The swords below vanished and formed wings. The helmet had a very animal-ish theme. Almost like those giant lizards from the one fairy tale book he wasn't supposed to read. What really threw Sidus were the very human eyes behind the face plate staring at him.

" **I will not hurt you. Though you are an anomaly, and your very existence goes against fate, I shall not be ending your life**." Sidus opened his mouth but his voice failed him the first time he tried to speak. He cleared his throat.

"Who-who are you?"

" **I suppose it should not be surprising you were not raised with the Hexathon. I am Bahamut, the Draconian. Astral of Light** ."

"Astral?" Sidus had heard the term before but couldn't place it.

" **We, the Six, are beings of great power charged with protecting this world** ," Bahamut explained. Sidus still didn't really understand but he nodded.

"Why am I here?"

" **You are connected to the Crystal and your power is syphoning valuable energy it needs to prepare for the end of this Darkness**. **The Six are not without mercy. I shall grant you your own powers, so that you might better help preserve this world in the coming darkness. Much like your friend the pseudo-Oracle, these powers will not be exactly like those from whom you were copied**." Bahamut pointed a glowing finger at Sidus who gasped as he grasped his chest. It felt like he'd run and his heart was beating so fast. He hadn't realized he'd collapsed onto his hands and knees until his vision cleared to being the metallic palm of Bahamut.

"What…about…Prompto..and..his…friends?" Sidus's pants nearly obscured his question.

" **Their power drain is far less than yours. It would be like comparing a raging river to a trickle coming from their source** ," Bahamut explained. The source. Sidus blinked, Prompto had said—.

"Where is Noctis?" Sidus asked.

" **You show genuine concern for the one from whom you were copied. That is unexpected. He is preparing for the final battle with the Immortal Accursed** ." Sidus looked up at Bahamut and carefully stood.

"Why wouldn't I care about him? He…he…he helped Mercury and Diana when he really didn't have to, and was down most of his powers. He didn't hate me for…being his copy. He looked at me and saw a person not a tool! He is good!" Sidus yelled.

" **For that, above all, is why he is the King of the Stone. You will need to be a symbol of the Dawn** ," Bahamut held Sidus closer and that's when the eyes clicked and Sidus sat down hard.

"Why do you have Noctis's eyes?" Sidus asked. Bahamut chuckled.

" **It is he who has my eyes. It is proof of your line's blessing from me** ."

* * *

Sidus woke up panting. He was alone, but there was a black t-shirt and what looked like shorts at the end of the bed with a belt. Sidus slipped out of the bed but his knees gave out. He felt so...weak. Did that mean that hadn't just been a dream? Sidus managed to stand up before he pulled off the overly large sleep clothing and changed into the clothes on the bed. The shorts were big, but the belt helped. He hadn't worn a belt in over a year, but he still remembered how to put one on. It was clumsy going at times, but soon it was as tight as it could go, and his shorts were in no danger of falling down. Sidus heard the door open and he turned his head. Something thunked to the floor.

* * *

Talcott had heard there was still another kid upstairs getting dressed, so he wanted to meet him. The other two seemed nice— and Diana was so pretty!—and now there was a third kid. They were all five years older than him but that was ok. Better five years older than eight years older, like Iris. Talcott had his metal Cactuar to show off, and he dropped it because when he opened the door, the kid in the room turned his head and he looked just like His Majesty!

"Are you ok?"

"Your Majesty?"

"No. I'm Sidus." Sidus fully turned to face him, and even though the hair wasn't spiked, he really did look like Noctis.

"Why do you look like His Majesty?" Talcott asked.

"I'm his clone," Sidus said.

"What's a clone?" Talcott said.

"It's a living copy of someone made from their DNA. The…empire made me. Prompto saved me," Sidus said.

"That sounds cool! Almost as cool as a cactuar!" Talcott said.

"Cactuar?" Sidus asked. Talcott remembered the figurine and showed it to Sidus.

"This is a cactuar and they're so amazing!"

* * *

"….and the 1000 Needles can either be a regular attack or it can deliver toxins!" Talcott and Sidus finally reached the common area. Iris looked up from her flower pressing and nearly dropping the book she'd been using.

"Iris that's Sidus. Sidus, that's Iris, Gladio's little sister," Prompto explained. Sidus nodded to her. There was a small plate of breakfast left off to the side for Sidus who sat down and eat it quickly and gratefully.

"Not a picky eater, are you?" Iris said.

"Picky eater?" Sidus blinked at her.

"Not liking certain foods and refusing to eat them?" Iris said.

"But you don't know when you'll be permitted to eat next, so you have to eat whatever you have, even if you don't like it," Sidus said. Mercury nodded in agreement with Sidus, as did Diana. That made Iris's heart break. What kind of monsters raised these three?

* * *

Sidus stood outside later and summoned one of his blades and dropped it. The colors were wrong. Instead of being blue, they were a silvery white color and remained being made of crystal instead of solidifying into the armiger weapons themselves.

It wasn't just a dream. Even his elemental magic was different. Instead of using magic flasks, which Noct had left a few behind, Sidus could just hurl the raw energy out with his hands. He could absorb it from the ground, which made things strange but he could make it happen without it too!

He also had a barrier spell he could cast made of white light, as well as a weak light he could use to repel daemons.

He was still able to warp, much to his relief. Diana's powers were also a bit more like his. She lacked the ability to use elemental energy like he could, but her shields and light attacks were stronger. She could also heal wounds. She could not, however, heal scourge or commune with the Six. The Draconian's words came back to Sidus again,

Psedudo-Oracle. Diana's powers were similar but distinct enough to not be Lunafreya's. Something she was pleased with: very very pleased with.

* * *

"We can't stay here much longer. The power's never going to hold out," Gladio said.

He'd returned from Lestallum, though Cor hadn't.

"We already prepared for that. All that remains is loading every one and everything we need into the truck before we can depart," Ignis said. The boxes were ready to go. Prompto and Mercury hauled the last few crates out before handing them off to Monica and Iris who'd been loading the truck. Diana was already inside with Sidus tying things down so they wouldn't slide.

Good bye, Cape Caem.

* * *

 **MP** :Hello! Part 3 of Clone Verse and it's the first Multi-Chapter fic. It will be three chapters total, and it is already written.


	2. As Time Goes By

**One Year Later, Lestallum**

Sidus fidgeted in his seat. The overcrowded Junior High of Lestallum was a far cry from anything he was used to as far as his schooling was concerned. After they'd made it to Lestallum, he and the others were enrolled in a slightly formalized round of education that was more aimed at teaching kids how to read, write, wire electronics and fix generators in case the power went out. Even the boys were being taught this now, despite the Matriarchal traditions of Lestallum. Whenever life was dependent upon the generators running and keeping people safe, priorities change. These classes met three days a week. The other two days, Sidus was often training with whatever hunter had volunteered. Usually it was Gladio. Sidus then had his extra lessons thanks to his powers.

"Sidus, care to read the next passage a loud?" He blushed before he looked down at the book.

* * *

"Way harsh, man." Mercury sidled up to him after class was dismissed for the day.

"Nah, I zoned out," Sidus said.

"Over what?" Mercury asked.

"Nothing. It was kind of stupid," Sidus said.

"Ok?" Mercury asked.

"I wonder what happened to Cape Caem," Sidus said.

"I dunno. Without people there, the daemons wouldn't have any reasons to mess with it," Mercury said.

"Longwythe's been empty for months, but I still hear reports about it's daemon problems," Sidus said.

"Then maybe Diana's….Diana-ness made things better.," Mercury said.

"Someone mention me?" They turned and saw Diana had her longer hair up in twin tails, another method of making herself different from her original. Sidus had been growing out his own hair for similar reasons.

"Of course, m'lady!" Mercury said. Diana giggled before she gently shoved him.

"How much longer do we have to attend these classes?" Sidus asked.

"Until the end of the year," Diana said, "Aranea wants to take me with her and teach me how to fight like a dragoon."

"Prompto wants to take me with him. He's planning on heading out to Hammerhead for a while," Mercury said. Sidus nodded. He….no one had stepped up to want to do anything with him. They would be officially split up. He tried to keep his face blank.

"It won't be permanent. Just until we can all fight. Then we can travel together!" Diana said.

"Really?" Sidus said.

"Dude, Prompto might be an awesome big bro, but you're my best bro," Mercury said.

"No one else really understands like you two do," Diana said. Sidus nodded. Now he needed to learn to fight too.

* * *

"You want to up your physical training?" Gladio asked. Sidus nodded.

"Alright, but no slacking off, y'hear me?" Gladio said. Sidus nodded again.

"Follow me," Gladio ordered. They exited the shared apartment and went into the now bursting at the seams Lestallum. New buildings were being hasty erected in the few spare spaces they would find, and additional floors were being added whenever possible to the existed structures. There was a training area that they'd managed to keep clear, that also doubled as the relocated market along the edges. It was the area that had been the overlook. Too dangerous to build anything substantial on, it was one of the least changed parts of Lestallum. Sidus tried not to react to the small crowd that formed around them.

"Ignore it kid. Now, summon your spear," Gladio said. Sidus nodded and did as he was told. He pulled his spear out of the armiger and charged at Gladio, only to be easily sent on his butt.

"Try again!"

* * *

 **Two Years Later**

Sidus charged Gladio with his spear and managed to push the older man back. Sidus flipped out of the way of an attack and warped behind Gladio attempting to land a kick, only to be grabbed by the ankle and thrown into the dirt.

"Nice try, kid!" Gladio offered Sidus a hand up. The fifteen-year-old dusted himself off and retied his hair, which had come loose.

"Sure you don't want to cut that?" Gladio asked.

"You're one to talk," Sidus said.

"It's not worth the time to maintain," Gladio pointed to the sides of his head where his hair had grown back.

"Yeah well, I'd rather shave than deal with trimming my hair," Sidus said.

"If you'd let some of that grow, you'd look less like a girl," Gladio said.

"That was one time!" Sidus flushed at the memory.

* * *

 **Six Months prior**

Sidus was warming up waiting for Gladio after the older man had gotten back from his latest hunt.

"Ex-excuse me." Sidus paused and turned around to see an older teenage boy. He had messy brown hair and a kind of forgettable face. The boy next to him had bright yellow hair and a face like a cat. The first boy was looking down and blushing. He looked up and his jaw dropped.

"Yeah?" Sidus asked.

"Sorry, it's just he thought you were a pretty girl because of your "nice, luscious, hair" and has been watching you from far enough away to not notice you're just a pretty guy," the boy's friend said.

"I'm …flattered?" Sidus said. That was the right response, right? The first boy ran off with his friend following him, cackling.

* * *

"Yeah, well it could easily happen again because of how pretty you are," Gladio said.

"I'm not cutting it," Sidus said.

"Suit your self. Now, let's keep going!"

* * *

An hour later, Sidus walked through Lestallum still sore. He was definitely getting better at fighting. Keeping his hair pulled back…not so much.

"Let me." A pair of hands gathered his hair up, smoothed the top and had it up in a high ponytail in nearly no time flat.

"Thanks—Iris! When did you get back?" Sidus said. The younger Amicitia had grown in the last three years. She was not much taller, but she'd gained a lot of muscle and a few extra curves. She'd taken to keeping her hair sheared short.

"Half an hour ago. You're improving. Gladdy never believed in going easy on anyone, so hang in there," Iris said.

"Have you heard from Aranea?" Sidus asked.

"Her group's managed to re-establish that outpost at the base of Ravatogh. The Exineris branch plant is making good use of the Volcano for their power," Iris said.

"That's good," Sidus said.

"Diana's doing pretty good too. They're calling her the "Dragoon of Light" and less people are comparing her to Lady Lunafreya," Iris said.

"She's probably happy about that," Sidus said.

"Mostly. Anyway, thanks to the Ravatogh plant, Exineris main will be able to lessen its strain. Once the lines are in place, Ravatogh will power itself and Meldacio, as well as half of Old Lestallum. Exineris will power Lestallum and Hammerhead. At least until Cindy gets those windmills up," Iris said.

"That freak storm hasn't stopped?" Sidus asked.

"Nope. Doesn't show any signs of stopping, but doesn't show any signs of moving either. I've gotta check in with Gladdy. Where is he?"

"Probably with Sania, but if you ask them, it's only "research," and not a date," Sidus said. Iris stifled a laugh.

* * *

 **Two Years Later**

Sidus warped out of the way of an Iron Giant's sword and summoned his armiger before going to town, leaving visible gauges into the creature's metallic skin before finishing it off in burst of light. Sidus rolled out of the way of a swipe from a Ronin's blade. Damn. A glowing golden lance speared the daemon and his savior, dressed in black and blue flipped away and landed next to him her twin tails streaming behind her as she ran forwards to kill more daemons. Sidus joined her and soon bullets entered the fray. It was over for now.

"There was a haven over here. They work when I'm around."

"Looking good, Diana," Sidus said.

"Thanks. You're not looking too bad yourself, Sidus." Mercury was waiting for them at the revived Haven.

"Hey, rocking the locks, looking good!" Mercury said. Sidus nodded. His hair was longer than most women's at this point, but he'd gotten used to it. He wasn't cutting it.

"Gladio finally let you out on your own?" Diana asked.

"Yeah. Once I perfected warping, he trusted I wouldn't get my ass handed to me too easily," Sidus said.

"Aranea told me I was ready to form my own team. I ran into Iris on the way here and she pointed me your way," Diana said.

"Ditto, except it was Prompto who kicked me out. Claimed I was getting too good looking and distracting Cindy," Mercury said.

"Real reason?" Sidus asked.

"Said I looked lonely and should go find the other clone kids," Mercury said.

"But he's a clone too," Diana pointed out.

"Yeah, and I mentioned that but he told me he wasn't technically a kid and we were," Mercury said. Sidus and Diana shrugged.

"Anyone mixing you up for Prompto?" Sidus asked.

"Sometimes. I don't mind," Mercury said, "No one expects me to be some sort of mythic figure being his baby brother. Not like….So, anyone have any good rations on them? I'm starving!" Sidus managed roll his eyes before digging through his pack and pulling out a few jars of food.

"Are those canned meals from Ignis?" Diana asked. She and Mercury were drooling a little.

"Yep. Once he got the hang of canning things, he shoved a whole bunch of these at Gladio and me. Gladio passed all his on to me and Iris. He stocked up on Cup Noodles instead. Told me I was too skinny and needed to build muscle and told Iris he'd rather her have Ignis's cooking," Sidus said. He used a small knife he kept outside the armiger to pry the lids off. The others had dug out their own forks, so the tucked into the cold food.

"This is too good! How do you keep your pack from breaking the jars?" Diana asked.

"The pack's usually in subspace for its own safety," Sidus said. Sidus collected the emptied jars and their lids making sure to reseal them before tucking them away.

"We're going to need to head to Lestallum once we've rested up a little," Sidus said.

"Did we cut in on your bounty?" Mercury asked.

"If you'd hadn't I might have been toast," Sidus said.

* * *

Lestallum looked a little less haphazard than it had four years previous to Mercury and Diana's eyes. To Sidus it was home. The expansion projects were mostly steady as more lights were first placed outside the previous city limits before breaking ground. There were also talks of making a "light tunnel" between Lestallum and Meldacio. The geography made that impractical, though. Sidus walked up to a line of hunters where an older woman was checking things off and giving out food as payment.

"Next."

"Sidus. I took out the Iron Giants as assigned with help," Sidus gestured to the others.

"The Golden Dragoon? Alright, here's your payment. Next," the basket was stuffed full of food.

"Do you still live with Ignis and Gladio, or are you on your own?" Mercury asked.

"Not enough space for me to be on my own. At least I'm sharing with people I know," Sidus said.

"Good point," Mercury said.

"Lestallum looks a lot better now," Diana said.

"You should see Wiz's Chocobo Outpost. It's practically a city now too," Sidus said.

"Really?" Mercury asked.

"Yeah. They rigged up these giant treadmills so they can exercise the birds safely and power the place. They've even got a green house and sunlamps up and going to produce food," Sidus said.

"They're not over working the birds, are they?" Mercury asked.

"Of course not. Even the people take turns on the treadmills," Sidus said.

"It's strange to think that we have a half dozen places for all the people of Eos," Diana said.

"Doesn't Aranea continually find more people when she goes back over to the other continent?" Sidus asked.

"Occasionally, but most of them are so scourge addled….we can't save them," Diana said.

"So, any more Tenebraen survivors call you—."

"More and more of them have realized my resemblance to her and more than a few have started calling me her "avenging spirit."" Diana said. The others winced.

"No one's really made that connection to me, but I've really not run into Insomnian survivors and Ignis explained that Noctis was mostly kept out of the public eye to keep him relatively anonymous," Sidus said rubbing the back of his neck.

"The hair probably throws them," Mercury said.

"That's why I grew it out in the first place," Sidus said.

* * *

"You're back early."

"Ignis! Yeah, Diana and Mercury helped," Sidus said setting the basket of food down on the table. Ignis walked over and quickly sorted through the food stuffs with his bare hands and his sense of smell helping him to identify them.

"If you could pop down to the market and pick up a few more spices for me, I can make a new recipe I've been wanting to try out for whenever we have company over," Ignis handed Sidus the list. The writing was still a bit sloppy and slanted, but it was worlds better than before. Sidus had become an expert on reading it, so he nodded and tucked it away into a pocket.

"You two rest here. I'll be back," Sidus said.

"You sure?" Mercury asked.

"Yeah, you two need to catch up with Iggy too," Sidus said.

"Aranea has some messages for you!" Diana said.

* * *

Sidus knew he stood out because of his hair being longer than even most of the women's hair in Lestallum. He also knew he stood out because his ability to make certain items into healing items also meant he didn't have as many nasty scars as most of the hunters in the city. Which lead to two camps of fellow hunters. Those that assumed he was just that good and those who assumed he didn't actually hunt. The scowling man in front of him, flanked by cronies, was of the latter.

"Time for a trim, pretty boy."

"Jason, I really don't have time for this," Sidus moved to push past them, but one of the goons grabbed his hair.

"You will let that go, now, or I'll have to make this a really bad day for you," Sidus said.

"Really?" The goon pulled out a knife and moved to slice the hair off. Sidus sighed summoning a dagger and warping out of the grip and reappearing on the other side.

"How did you do that?" Jason asked.

"The same way I'm about to do this." Sidus let out a very low powered thunder burst, stunning the whole group, leaving them on the ground twitching.

"Count yourselves lucky. The daemons that grab my hair like that usually end up with a sword being driven through their skulls." Sidus checked his pony tail to find only a few strands had been sliced off. Not the end of the world.

* * *

Sidus arrived back with the spices.

"Any problems?"

"Just the usual idiots," Sidus said.

"Though, I feel I should warn you that many of the Insomnian residents have started grouping together in a sector now being referred to as "Little Insomnia" over in the newer sections of town."

"Gotcha," Sidus set the spices down and joined Diana and Mercury who were playing cards.

"Have any Kings?"

"Go fish!" Mercury scowled as he drew a card before he slammed down a pair of kings,

"Got what I wanted! Got any aces?" Diana flicked a card over.

"Wow, this is really exciting," Sidus said.

"He doesn't know how to play poker and Ignis didn't want to be dealer," Diana said.

"That's because Gladio always accuses him of cheating," Sidus said.

"Hardly see what bearing that has on this conversation," Ignis yelled from the kitchenette.

"How could he cheat?" Mercury asked.

"I dunno, but maybe he used to count cards or something," Sidus said.

* * *

 **Two Years Later**

Sidus sat on the roof of the truck Talcott was driving. This raid had been planned for months. Vital components were running low for electronics and there was a city just rotting away filled to the brim with advanced tech. It was also filled to the brim with daemons and mutated monsters. Diana was crouched on the roof with him. Mercury was in the cab with Talcott. Their job was to clear the way. They weren't the first Insomnian raid team. That honor belonged to Gladio, Ignis, Prompto, Cor, and Iris. They did aim to be the second successful raid. Other raids had happened but….Sidus nodded to Diana whose lance was gripped tightly. She had the same gear he was wearing to prevent any confusion. The gates to the city were wrecked. The rubble was too much for the truck to pass through. Sidus and Diana leapt to the ground.

"Talcott, if we're not back in two hours, get the hell out of here," Sidus said looking back to Talcott.

"With all due respect, I'm the only one here who is actually from Insomnia. I know where to go and you don't," Talcott replied.

"You're also fourteen. The only reason we got permission to bring you was we promised your Uncle you wouldn't be in any danger. Staying in the truck with the UV headlights is our way of keeping you out of danger. We're also going to try to find more of those while we're searching," Mercury said holding up his map of the Crown City. Talcott glared but the others just stared right back.

"Fine. Here," Talcott took the map and marked a bunch of places.

"This was the auto sector. I remember we took a field trip there once for school. That'd be the best place for those headlights. There and there were power plants. If any place has the components Exineris needs, it would be those places and those final marks are hospitals," Talcott explained.

"If you feel threatened at all, call me and I'll make it back here as fast as I can," Sidus said.

"I can take care of myself," Talcott said pointing to the shotgun he had brought with him.

* * *

Sidus stared at the ruined city in awe. The streetlights were still functioning. Sure, it did nothing to the daemons they'd been skirting around, but man did it look amazing. In the distance they saw a shiny black building and Sidus's mind nearly crashed then and there. He snapped out of it and they continued their way past everything as stealthily as possible.

"How is your hair not getting caught on things?" Mercury asked.

"Its tucked down the back of my coat," Sidus said. He'd braided it and stuffed it into his jacket before they'd even set out.

"You didn't notice that?" Diana asked.

"Sorry, I don't usually think about his hair unless we're going through the city of death, " Mercury said. Diana's own hair had been braided around her head in a crown to keep it in place instead of her now signature twin tails. The auto sector was partly trashed but intact enough for them to search through the inventory to find the super-bright headlights they were looking for. Sidus shoved them into his subspace inventory, as many as possible. There were other car parts they grabbed at random. An ear splitting roar alerted them to the need to move. Sidus looked towards the source and dropped a pipe he'd grabbed.

"Guys, is it just me or is there a person in strange uniform standing there fighting a winged King Behemoth?" Sidus asked.

"Oh, so you see it too?" Mercury said.

"Let's go bail them out," Diana said.

* * *

Sidus barely got two steps forwards whenever another monster appeared separating him from Diana and Mercury.

"Get out of here!" the guy yelled.

"Not on your life!" Sidus warped over to the man's side, and he was staring at him.

"How—Your Highness?"

"Not exactly," Sidus said. The man worked pretty well with Sidus and they'd driven the behemoth back. In fact, the man had actually managed to land quite a few serious blows before Sidus had even arrived. Sidus summoned a spear before he warped forwards and warped up driving the spear into the behemoth's skull. He flipped into the air and gathered as much thunder energy as he dared, his bangs standing on end before he shoved his arms forwards unleashing the torrent of electricity down upon the behemoth, his spear acting like a lightning rod. He barely warped to the ground. The dead behemoth stunk and Sidus didn't have any more spells left in him. The other monster slammed down on the other side. Diana and Mercury raced over.

"Sidus! Are you alright?" Diana forced an elixir into his hands. He crushed it.

"I am now. We need to move, I probably drew other creatures to this point with that display," Sidus said.

"I know a place to lay low," the man said.

* * *

It looked like an abandoned barracks of sorts not too far from the center sectors.

"Former Kingsglaive barracks," the man said.

"What are you even doing this deep into Insomnia without a team?" Sidus asked.

"What do you mean by "not exactly" being Prince Noctis?" the man replied.

"I'm his clone," Sidus said.

"You're telling some random stranger about that!" Mercury yelled.

"Why not? Why lie? It's not like there's any other reasonable answer to why I look like Noctis," Sidus said.

"He has a point," Diana said.

"That would make you a clone of Lady Lunafreya," the man said.

"You're accepting the whole "Clones are real" thing really well, dude," Mercury said.

"This body was cloned, so I guess you can say I've first hand knowledge. Name's Nyx Ulric. Kingglaive."

"What's a Kingsglaive?" Sidus asked.

"You haven't heard of them?" Nyx asked.

"No offense, but we've been trying to survive in the hellscape known as the current apocalyptic world," Mercury said.

"I think Gladio and the others were here before," Sidus said after a moment pointing to the boot prints.

"You're not even surprised someone can come back into a clone body?" Nys said.

"My genetic donor daemonified himself and transferred his consciousness into a giant MT weapon. You're not even slightly weird in comparison to that," Mercury said.

"Who the hell were you cloned from?" Nyx asked.

"A lunatic," Mercury said with a shrug.

"He was all about trying to play god," Diana said, "In the end he was barely more than a glorified weapon."

"Big bro totally blew him away!" Mercury said. Sidus summoned a pair of kurkris and looked at them before presenting them to Nyx.

"I think these are yours," he said.

"Where's you get these?" Nyx asked.

"A Magenta Haired Loony handed them to us in Zaganatus," Mercury said.

"He has a name," Diana said.

"He doesn't deserve it!" Mercury said. Sidus rolled his eyes as he inspected the spare uniforms.

"Pretty cool, aren't they?" Nys said. Sidus jumped a little and nodded. Sidus grabbed one and held it out inspecting it.

"I'm sure the guy who owned it wouldn't care if you took it," Nyx said.

"I…." Sidus nodded before it vanished in a flash of light. He grabbed several others after looking at Mercury, Diana, and Nyx.

"Spares, huh?" Nyx said.

"Yeah," Sidus said, "We have forty five minutes before Talcott probably tries to come into Insomnia after us."

"If we split up, we can hit a power plant and a hospital for supplies," Diana said.

"Split up? Are you nuts?" Mercury said.

"She has a point. With me on one team and her on the other, we have a magic user per pair," Sidus said.

"Fine. I call dibs with Diana!" Mercury said.

"I guess you're with me," Nyx said, "Try not to look too disappointed." Sidus shrugged a little.

"I'll hit the hospital. You two go to the power plant. You know more about that stuff than me," Sidus said.

"Call if you need help," Diana said.

* * *

"So, you two a thing, or are you dancing around it?" Nyx asked.

"Wha-I-She's just a friend," Sidus said while they carefully snuck through the city to the nearest hospital.

"Sure. You make eyes at all your friends?" Nyx asked.

"Here, this hospital shouldn't have been looted too much before," Sidus changed the topic. He felt the tug on his magic. Mercury and Diana had arrived at their destination and were busy. He entered sword drawn in the flickering lights. Nyx led him to a storage closet and he loaded up on as many supplies as possible. They weren't touching the pharmacy with a ten-foot pole because the medicine there was surely expired by that point. A few minor deamons, imps, were hanging about. Easily disposed of. They worked their ways up and stole from as many other storage closets as possible. In the end, that turned out to be four. There was a floating daemon that looks their way and had green fire floating around it.

"Psychomancer," Nyx said.

"Time to go," Sidus said. They fled, jumping out a window onto a light pole. Sidus slipped and warped down. Nyx slid down after him. The daemon floated after them. They exchanged a look and took off running down the streets, skirting rubble and just generally avoiding fights. They arrived at the truck at the same time as Mercury and Diana with two minutes to spare. Talcott looked disappointed at first until he recognized Nyx's uniform.

"You guys found a living Kingdglaive!"

"Yeah. We need to go before the nasties we out ran decide to come after us," Mercury said. Talcott nodded and slammed on the gas.

* * *

"Why are you riding up there?" Nyx asked from in the bed of the truck, where Diana was sitting.

"I like the view," Sidus replied.

"Not afraid of falling off?" Nyx said.

"I'd warp to safety." Nyx missed whenever he could have used that answer.

"How long were you living in that place?" Diana asked. It was eerie for him to see the face and hear the voice of Lunafreya but it was said in a way Lunafreya would have never said it. Though, a Tenebrae accent still stubbornly tugged at her voice.

"Not sure. About three months, I think. Some strange creature led me through a strange dream world and I woke up in that tank. The creature appeared in the real world and used some red light to smash the glass and let me and the liquid out. I mostly stayed in the barracks at first because there were supplies there and every time I poked my head out there were daemons everywhere," Nyx said.

"It's been liked this for seven years. The supplies we have will be split among the settlements we're in contact with," Diana said.

"So, uh, where are your….donors?" Nyx asked.

"Lunafreya died seven years ago in Altissia during the Rite of the Leviathan at the hands of Ardyn Izunia," Diana said.

"Noctis….vanished. Ardyn was behind that too. In fact, Ardyn was behind everything. The empire. The war. The Daemons. The MT's. All Ardyn," Sidus yelled.

"Any idea why?" Nyx asked.

"Never got the chance to ask, and he's insane, so who really knows beyond him being some sort of super daemon," Sidus said.

"Super daemon?"

"Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis all attacked him at point blank range and he stood up as if they had merely shoved him onto the ground and his face…it was awful and inhuman," Diana said.

"Who attacked him?" Nyx said.

"Gladiolus Amicitia, Ignis Scietia, and Prompto Argentum," Diana said.

"Oh, so the Prince's entourage huh," Nyx said. The pair nodded, "And he lived?" They both nodded again. They arrived at the gates to a very fortified, very well lit outpost. Sidus and Diana nodded to the guards as the truck rumbled through the gate only to pull over. Sidus leapt off the roof, landing in a crouch.

"He calls me a show off," Diana said climbing out. Nyx followed her. Mercury stretched out and Talcott was off to talk with another hunter. Sidus walked into the former diner and began to pulled the supplies they'd managed to get and place them in their appropriate places.

"What happened?" another hunter asked pointing to the hospital supplies, which were mostly blankets, bandages, and a few other basics.

"Too many powerful nasties," Sidus said.

"Even for you Mr. Black Mage?"

"I have my limits," Sidus replied.

"Bet if you chopped that hair off, it might be easier to fight," the hunter said.

"The more people tell me to cut my hair, the more I'm just going to keep growing it out to spite them," Sidus said.

"Whatever makes you happy kid," the hunter said. Sidus rolled his eyes. He saw Mercury and Diana had already taken the car parts out of subspace. Probably gave them to Cindy.

"So, no one sees past the hair and that's why nobody's made any noise about your appearance?" Nyx asked. Sidus jumped. Where had Nyx even come from.

"Mostly," Sidus said, "I also avoid most Insomnians if I can help it."

* * *

MP:

Nyx is here because this fic is purely a self-indulgent entity. After Verstael jumped from body to Immortalis, I figured Carbuncle could guide Nyx's spirit into a cloned body.  
That's also how I figure Ardyn even had corpses to taunt Noctis with. I still think they're illusions, but someone said that it was confirmed they were real but they couldn't be. There's no way he'd have had one for Nyx because he burned up into ashes at the end of Kingsglaive and Iedolas became a daemon, so no body there either.  
Long story short, I took advantage of the advanced clone tech existing in this world.

The other settlements and their methods of power: There's no way Exineris could handle the strain for the whole time, and no way every survivor could be split between two settlements. So, I made Ravatogh take advantage of an active Volcano for power, that weird twister outside Longwyth for wind power to be used by Hammerhead, and treadmills to exercise the birds down at Wiz's outpost and keep everyone safe. Thus, I was able to split most of the world between Ravatogh, Lestallum, Wiz's Outpost, Old Lestallum, Hammerhead, and Meldacio. It's a little more realistic by my book.  
Which is also why there are raid teams into Insomnia. In Game, Gladio, Cor, Prompto, and Iggy slipped into Insomnia and got their end of the game threads from this trip.  
So, I figure, a large, advanced city just sitting there would be a prime pickings for other suicidal brave people to gather up whatever they could salvage and spread amongst the other settlements.


	3. Recognition

Sidus left Nyx and the others at Hammerhead. He had to get to Lestallum. Apparently, someone had found something major to do with magic and he was pretty much known as the only remaining "Black Mage" on Eos. Diana was often referred to as a "White Mage" in addition to her "Golden Dragoon" title. So long as no one referred to her as "Oracle," she was fine with whatever title they gave her. Sidus rode on a truck with freshly installed super bright lights and the daemons scurried away. Success! He flipped down into the cab next to the driver who looked just as happy, and more than a bit relieved, that the lights worked.

"You guys will save a lot of lives with those lights you brought back," the driver said.

"Thanks. The less we lose, the less daemons we have," Sidus said. He looked at the daemons just lingering in the darkness waiting to tear at the remaining people of the world. Unless they could get that factory in Ravatogh going properly, the lights keeping the daemons at bay would fail due to a lack of resources. The world needed a miracle.

* * *

Nyx hopped into a truck headed for a different place: Meldacio. With him were Diana and Mercury.

"Why'd your buddy go off alone?" Nyx asked.

"They needed his magical knowledge," Diana said. She flipped out of the truck onto the roof. Mercury joined her. The other passengers didn't seemed surprised by this.

"Why can't hunters act normally?"

"That was the White Mage! We can rest easy. Her powers can obliterate any daemon in her way!"

"She an Oracle?"

"Nah. She don't heal the scourge and she don't speak to gods."

"I hear she's really Lord Ravus's daughter."

"She's too old to be that!"

"No she's not!"

Nyx rolled his eyes. No wonder the clones didn't like talking to people about their…origins. People were already spinning their own crazy stories. He sighed and ran fingers through his hair as the truck lurched around a curve in the road. He'd been focused on survival for so long, he hadn't even stopped to think about what the ruined world meant. After all that, his sacrifice amounted to this? This ruined world? After all that effort, Lady Lunafreya still died in Altissia. He felt like a failure. He hadn't felt this lost since….his sister. He couldn't save her and he only saved Lady Lunafreya for her to die another day.

Moping wasn't going to do him any good in this world. He was just going to have to suck it up and try to work towards a better future.

* * *

Sidus jumped out and nodded to the driver before he walked into Lestallum. It looked even more like a real city with a steady supply of ore being turned into metal from Ravatogh. The city still looked cobbled together, but in a different way now. One section was ultra modern. Little Insomnia or Little Crown City it was called. One looked like the Lestallum of Pre-fall, and it was known as Lestallum Proper. There was a Little Atissia, and a very small segment of Niflheim buildings called the Gralea Block. He was being called into look at something found while someone was breaking ground in Little Insomnia. He made a quick stop off at the apartment for a shower, because he had behemoth goo all over him. Ignis was out, and Aranea's lance leaning on the wall let him know why the older man was out. Good for him. Gladio's sword was leaning on a table and he could hear Gladio was in the bathroom. The door opened, as if the thought of him summoned him.

"When'd you get back?" Gladio asked as they traded places.

"Just now. Managed to get some things in the raid and only had to run like Hell a hundred times," Sidus said.

"Tell me later. Sania needs someone to escort her to the latest mutated creature she's been studying," Gladio said.

"Sure," Sidus said. Gladio just messed with Sidus's hair only to grimace at the monster goo which he wiped back onto Sidus's head.

* * *

The drawback of long hair? It took forever to dry, even with some magical cheating. It was still damp as Sidus made his way through Lestallum in a raided Glaive uniform's under layers. They fit really well and were clean. He knew he was drawing some strange looks from the people of Little Insomnia, but he didn't care. By now the "Long Haired Hunter" should have been old news. Yet, people always stared. Sidus arrived at the dig site.

"You're the Black Mage? You're…..young." It was an older woman with crazy hair and thick glasses.

"Ignis Scientia taught me everything he knew," Sidus said, "Any magic books we can find, I study."

"Right. I'm Mariella. You are?"

"Sidus." In the ground surrounded by bright lights was a strange statue. It was reminiscent of the royal tombs but looked unfinished and it was only the top portion.

"White stone, clearly not from the surrounding rock," Sidus remarked as he crouched closer to it.

"Yes. It looks like it has something to do with the royal family of Lucis," Mariella said. Sidus looked around and found some inscriptions.

"That's why we called you. It's not in any language I recognize but it looked vaguely Old Lucian, but not quite," Mariella said.

"It's the spell tongue. I think," Sidus said.

"What's it say?"

"There's a name missing, but this is was supposed to have been part of a tomb, but it was discarded and buried here," Sidus said. He reached a hand out and the statue glowed blue. He jerked his hand back.

"That's new."

"It is?" Sidus reached for the statue again and it turned transparent. Within was a sword that was snapped in two and it glowed….red. He could feel that it was the crystal's magic, but it was…..twisted. Tainted? It felt nothing like Noctis's magic had, or his own before it had changed.

"I've never felt anything like this but it's corrupted," Sidus took his hand away from it. The stone resumed its previous opacity.

"Corrupted?"

"It's Lucian Royal magic, but it….it's tainted," Sidus said, "The outside statue, that's also enchanted with the Crystal's magic, but the sword feels like a twisted version of that."

"What does the script say?" Mariella asked.

"Here lies — the date is also faded but I don't understand the dating method either. "The Healer, The Just, The —," something about that last title was rubbed out. This looks a little like the inscriptions in the tombs where their titles are usually listed." Sidus said, "If you want to know more about Royal Tombs, you're going to need to bring in Talcott Hester or Iris Amicitia."

"A missing monarch?" Mariella said, "I knew it!"

"That we're missing a king?" Sidus.

"There are gaps in the historic record that make no sense unless you add in another King of ancient Lucis," Mariella said.

"It's safe to move, just don't break that statue," Sidus said, "I have no idea how to predict how that tainted magic will react to people."

* * *

Sidus stretched as he walked back out. He didn't like to be in Little Insomnia any more than he had to be, because he didn't want to have to awkwardly explain why he looked just like the missing King Noctis. His stomach grumbled. He was starving. He had some gil on him, though mostly gil was worthless.

"Try a kebab!" Sidus looked up and there was a stick of meat in his face.

"Thanks." Sidus took it and dug out gil after he glanced at the stand nearby. The man accepted gil as payment. It was a bit spicy but it was very good.

"Tell your friends!" the man said before he stared at Sidus.

"Something on my face?" Sidus asked.

"Sorry, you just look really familiar," the man said. Sidus shrugged before he walked away and found a trash can for the skewer. Really it was a recycling bin, as every resource counted. Sidus stopped and stared at something. It was a mural. It depicted….Noctis. The artist painting it had a tattered picture of Noctis in hand as he continued his work. Above Noctis was a painting of Noctis's father. Regis. He….Sidus looked off to the side. He wondered what Regis would have thought of him. A copy of Noctis. Most days, Sidus didn't care. Some days, though….some days whenever he saw Gladio or Promtpo's eyes linger over him a bit too long, and when Ignis's breath hitched at his voice. Those days he felt like a cheap imitation. It was a ridiculous thought; they knew who he was. They knew what he was. Yet, it hurt them sometimes, the older he got, and closer to the age Noctis had been whenever he'd….

"Like what you see?" Sidus numbly nodded as he continued to stare at Regis and Noctis.

"I went to school with him, you know. He was quiet, didn't talk to many people aside from Argentum or a teacher. He would have been a great King," the artist said.

"You really think so?" Sidus asked. The artist's face whipped around to face his and Sidus realized his mistake. Now he was actually looking at Sidus's face, ignoring the hair. Sidus froze for a few moments trying to figure out how to get out of this.

"Heyas, Sidus! When did you get into town?"

"Hey, Prompto!" Sidus took the life line and walked over to Prompto quickly.

"Prompto Argentum?"

"Oh hey you're um….Alex Auxilium, right?"

"You know him?" Sidus asked.

"Sure! We were in the same class. We didn't talk much, though. I was the class clown and he was the quiet artist type," Prompto said.

"Why does he look like Prince Noctis?" Alex asked pointing at Sidus.

"Well, he's related to Noct," Prompto said. Sidus gave him a sharp look.

"Hey, don't look at me like that, sooner or later people were going to find out about your relation to Noctis. You look just like him dude," Prompto said.

"Why hide your relationship to Noctis?" Alex asked. Sidus exchanged a look with Prompto who nodded.

"Because I…hadn't known until I was twelve I was even related to him. I wasn't raised in Insomnia," Sidus said.

"We've got to get going, or Iggy's going to flip his lid," Prompto said dragging Sidus along with him.

"Dude, what happened to avoiding this part of town?" Prompto hissed as soon as they were away.

"They needed me to identify some magical thing and I stopped and stared at that mural. It was ok until I spoke," Sidus said.

"Damn, not much we can do about your voice," Prompto said.

"Have any Nifs recognized you as….being related to Verstael?" Sidus asked.

"I've been avoiding them, but apparently blonds like me are more of a Nif thing than a Lucian thing, so people think I'm a Nif already," Prompto said.

* * *

Sidus was called to the edge of the city. A caravan from Ravatogh had arrived with much needed metal and supplies for building. Traders arrived in force for the goods which means every hunter was needed to help protect the shipments as they arrived from daemons. Sidus straightened up his usual hunting clothes. Iggy and Gladio stressed the raided Glaive uniforms should be saved for a better occasion. It's not his fault they're more comfortable than his itchy hunter garb. Sidus saw the first trucks and there was already trouble. He summoned a sword and threw it warping out ahead of the others landing on a roof of a truck and slashed the imps off the back. They didn't have the headlights yet! He surged forwards and continued to drive daemons off. The other hunters were dealing with the trucks closer to the edge and he was the first at the rear. The truck he was currently at was a lost cause. The driver was gone. Not gone. A daemon. The empty clothes and the angry ershigal attacking him were what was left of the driver. Sidus slashed him out of his misery before he took the shipment and shoved it into subspace. He saw he was surrounded and had an idea he was wanting to try. The truck was a lost cause and it was too old to be scrapped for parts, so no one would get too mad about this next move. Sidus reached out at the truck and pulled electricity from it into him. It hurt a little. The natural lightning energy was less volatile. He then warped into the air and flung the electricity at the wrecked truck exploding it. He warped further away from the blast, which took out a few low level daemons. He warped back to safety. That was the only loss.

"The driver?" an older hunter asked.

"Daemonified," Sidus said.

* * *

Diana and Mercury arrived in Lestallum the next day. It was the day before the day they'd picked to be Sidus's birthday.

"We need to celebrate you turning Nineteen!" Diana said.

"Why?"

"Because, any birthday you make it to is important in this world," Mercury said, "Right, Iggy?"

"He has a point," Ignis said, "Feet off the coffee table, Mercury." Mercury slid them off.

"Sometimes, I swear he can see," Mercury said.

"You're just predictable, Mer," Sidus said.

"Hey! It's my favorite baby bro!" Prompto had Mercury in a headlock.

"I'm your only baby bro," Mercury said batting the hands off.

"Not really. There are still some MT's in Insomnia," Prompto said.

"You'd really pick one of them over me?" Mercury said, with a fake pout.

"Push it and find out," Prompto said.

"We're trying to convince Sidus to celebrate his birthday," Diana said.

"Don't drag Prompto into this," Sidus said.

"Why don't you want to celebrate?" Prompto asked.

"It doesn't feel right. Not whenever so many people don't make it…." Sidus looked down at his hands. All his powers and he was too late for that driver.

"That's exactly why we need to celebrate, dude! There are only so many of us left and that's amazing," Prompto said.

* * *

Though the city was one of survival, there were still restaurants. Sidus was wearing his nicest non-combat clothing and his hair was down for once. The bottom of it was to his calves. It was also wavier than most would have expected it to be. From behind, he was mistaken for a woman more like this. Diana had her hair braided back out of her face and draped over her shoulder, and she was wearing a white dress. Mercury and Prompto were barely presentable because they were too fidgety to keep their nice clothes from getting wrinkled. Gladio was wearing a shirt. That was something. Ignis was as well dressed as always. The restaurant was in Lestallum proper. It served a lot of meat and few vegetables, much to Sidus's delight.

"Excuse me miss, but you look just like—."

"I know," Diana said cutting the person off.

"But he looks like—."

"And?" Mercury said, "Do you mind? We're trying to enjoy dinner." The man walked away but Sidus had lost his appetite. Even the hair wasn't working now. They left and Sidus followed the others out of the restaurant but he could feel the eyes on him and hear whispers.

* * *

Sidus was called to Ravatogh to help with another magical artifact. Iris and Talcott were there too, but the ruins they looked at were mostly inert. It turned out to be another destroyed weapon, but it had no magic in this time, but it had it once.

There were even more Insomnian refugees in Ravatogh than Lestallum. That's also where Dino, the man he'd saved seven years ago, ended up.

"If it wasn't for that hair, I'd swear you were Prince Noctis, so what's up with that kid?" Dino asked. Sidus rolled his eyes and walked away.

"You wouldn't happen to be…say….related to him." Sidus stopped dead and looked back. "Not that hard to figure out. The hard part is the how and the who's and all that. I haven't quite gotten that down yet, but unless you say something soon, people are going to make up their own stories, like they have for that blonde girl friend of yours. Most people swear she's the Oracle reborn, while others are claiming she's Lord Ravus's only child. Others are even claiming she's a clone. Isn't that the most ridiculous thing you ever heard." Sidus barely kept from flinching.

"I didn't know I was even related to him until I was twelve, just before I met him, before the Fall," Sidus said.

"Huh, not from Insomnia are ya?"

"No."

"But you know what he looks like. Otherwise, you wouldn't have that crazy hair of yours, right?" Dino said.

"It worked until recently," Sidus said.

"Sure it did, but anyone who knew him, or spoke to him, knows that voice," Dino said.

"Yeah, I've noticed," Sidus said.

* * *

Diana couldn't always avoid the Tenebrean refugees whenever she arrived in a town. They seemed to have a sixth sense for when she'd arrive. They'd keep their distance, but it grated on her nerves. She knew what they looked for in her and she hated having to tell people, over and over again, she was **not** an Oracle. She didn't talk to the Six. She couldn't heal the Scourge. She could heal other injuries but her powers were mostly meant for fighting daemons, not controlling the scourge. If someone was infected, her powers would only kill them. After seven years, people were starting to realize that she was not Lunafreya, no matter how much she looked and sounded like her genetic original.

"You look a bit upset there, Princess." Diana jumped and saw it was just Nyx. He'd been accepted by the survivors without too much fuss. The best Kingsglaive ever, people bought his survival outside the settlements. He also had a habit of calling her Princess.

"Keep calling me that, and people are going to seriously believe I'm Ravus's illegitimate daughter," Diana said.

"Was he old enough to have a kid your age?"

"He was, actually, if he had been so inclined at the age of sixteen," Diana said.

"Hate to break it to you, but a guy is usually inclined at that age," Nyx said, "Would it be so bad letting them think that?"

"Perhaps not," Diana said, "I am growing tired of people calling me "Lunafreya's avenging ghost" or other nonsense like that."

"Probably shouldn't mention the fact that people are calling your dark haired friend Prince Noctis's ghost," Nyx said.

"I'm not surprised. Sidus's resemblance to him is now undeniable," Diana said.

"You're going to need to tell people something, or the rumors are just going to get worse," Nyx said.

"The world's on the brink of destruction. I think where we came from is rather less important," Diana said.

"Just saying, sooner or later this is going to take on a life of its own and you won't be able to control what happens."

* * *

"Perhaps we should have thought of this sooner," Ignis said.

"I think we had better things to think about," Gladio said.

"I mean Mercury's got his backstory. Easy. Baby bro. Done, but the other two…" Prompto trailed off.

"Perhaps for Diana it might be best if we let them think she is Lord Ravus's daughter," Ignis said.

"What?" Diana said.

"It's either that or we reveal that cloning was a thing and that would not end well for either Argentum in the long run," Ignis said. Diana sighed.

"Very well, but what about Sidus? It's a known fact Noctis was an only child," Diana said.

"And an identical stranger won't cut it. Not with that magic or how identical he is," Prompto said. Sidus rolled his eyes.

"He's Noct's brother. We'll let other people think about the how, and just roll with it," Gladio said.

"Hey, that means you two have last names now!" Mercury said.

"Sidus Lucis Caelum and Diana Nox Fleuret," Ignis said.

"We're going to have to plant some sort of papers somewhere right?" Prompto said.

"Eventually," Gladio said.

"I know just the thing, but it will require bringing the Marshall in on this," Ignis said.

"For now, let's just enjoy the food," Gladio said.

* * *

 **Two Years Later**

Sidus, Diana, and Mercury had decided to go back to Gauldin Quay for hunting and to check on its bizarrely still functional Haven.

"I'll be by later," Talcott said, "Make sure you guys are still alive."

"We promise," Sidus said giving a sloppy salute. Talcott rolled his eyes.

"We'll be careful so long as you are too," Diana said.

"I've got to get to Whiz's for the supply exchange. I'll be back as soon as I can," Talcott said.

"If those lights go out, call us immediately and we'll get there as fast as we can," Sidus said.

"Dude, Cindy just changed them," Mercury said. Talcott smiled at them before the drove away leaving them at the top of the road down to the ruined resort.

"I wonder what this looked like when it wasn't a deamon filled wreck?" Sidus mused.

"Well, Prompto probably has pics," Mercury said.

"We'll have to ask him about it when we see him again," Diana said.

* * *

The Haven still worked. It lit up brighter in Diana's presence, as usual, but it still worked. Mercury stacked cans of food into a small bin along with a few blankets, a tarp, and a pillow.

"You really think anyone is going to end up out here on their own?" Diana asked.

"The trucks occasionally use this road. If one breaks down, this is one of the safest places for people," Mercury said, "People who need rescued need to live long enough for rescue to come."

"He has a point," Sidus said.

"Fine," Diana said, "That would also mean we need people regularly driving by the Havens that still work without me stopping by to give them a charge. Allfive of them."

"People already do," Sidus said.

"Any more people trying to mess with you over being "royalty?"" Mercury asked.

"A few here and there," Sidus said, "Some of the people from Insomnia want me to become King and we have better things to worry about, like survival, than messing with any of that."

"We're getting stable enough," Diana said.

"No, we're really not," Mercury said, "I…I've been sneaking looks at the reports, ok? We can't keep going. Our electronics will last maybe a few years more. They were never meant to be run 24/7. The generators will begin to fail in three years."

"Three years, huh? How many raids into Insomnia would we need to extend this?" Sidus asked.

"Way too many. We only survived because we ran through and had to hide and we didn't push out luck by staying too long," Mercury said.

"So all of this effort was for mankind to die a few years later?" Diana said.

"No. All this effort was to stay alive. We'll figure something else out, I hope," Mercury said.

"What if we made a giant Haven?" Diana asked.

"You could never power something that big!" Mercury said.

"You don't know that," Diana said.

"No, but I know of an example similar called the New Wall of Insomnia. It killed the Kings who held it up," Mercury said.

"Then what are we going to do?" Sidus said.

"If we could harness the old Solheim tech, maybe we would have a chance," Mercury said.

"One problem. Last people who tried that were the Nifs and MT's and daemons are what resulted," Sidus said.

"And us," Diana said.

"And Prompto," Mercury said.

"You know what I meant," Sidus said.

"But it's not 100% a bad idea, it's just….too much bad also came from it. I just can't see any other way," Mercury said.

"I know," Sidus said.

* * *

 **MP** : Here we go, Part 3! It's a bit early, mostly because I have to work on a school assignment this weekend.  
So that's it for the brief stories in the darkness.


End file.
